The text describes St Peter's Church in Vilnius, founded by the Grand Hetman of Lithuania, Michał Pac, and consecrated in 1701 by B. Brzostowski. In the following part of the note, the physical appearance of the building and its furnishings are crossed out. Historical memorabilia are also presented, including the cauldrons from the victory at the Battle of Chocim under Zygmunt III or the flag donated by Urban VIII (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1901, Półrocze I, p. 435, after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text

Description of St. Peter's Church in Vilnius

On the heights of Antokolė, on the spot where, according to legend, sacrifices were offered to the goddess Milia, and where people gathered to celebrate the Kupala festival, a church dedicated to the Holy Spirit was built in 1638, founded by Lithuanian Grand Hetman Michał Pac. It was consecrated in 1701 by Bishop Brzostowski. Looking at this temple, surrounded by pyramidal poplars that cover and soften the inexorably yellow colour of the walls, no one would guess what artistic treasures it hides, what a treasury of the past centuries. We enter the interior...

From the dome and the ceiling to the floor, everything is covered with plaster sculpture, but so intricate and correct in its drawing and so rich in ideas and forms that, really, this church, now abandoned and neglected, could boldly shine with its splendour in any of the world's capitals. The sculptors brought in from Italy, Piotr Peretti from Milan and Giovanni Galli from Rome, worked long and hard to transform this church into a veritable treasure, and they achieved their goal.

For what a variety of ideas and motifs! What a variety of forms and lines... The gaze does not tire, wandering over those festoons of fruit and flowers, those branches of oak and laurel, forming exquisite weaves and lines, among which dolphins or mascarons appear, supporting the larger planes on which the armour hangs, ecclesiastical utensils and agricultural tools, musical instruments and fishing nets, horns of plenty, ribbons and folds, then again whole scenes from the Old and New Testaments, historical scenes, and in the midst of this background of veritable lace stand, as if guarding these treasures, statues of saints. And the paintings in the church?

These are almost lost in the profusion of sculpture. Here we find a painting by Smuglewicz, frescoes by Martin de Alto-Monte and a few other weaker ones. The church also has a few historical relics: two mighty cauldrons, souvenirs of the victory at Chocim during the reign of Sigismund III; a flag donated by Pope Urban VIII; the Pacs' chest is also worthy of note, but all this, like many other relics, is covered in the dust of oblivion and cobwebs. But these precious remnants of the past are at least not threatened by the hand of an at least unprofessional restorer; worse things happen to the plaster casts, so let us return to them. The lime-covered ones, with ultramarine-painted backgrounds, are crying out for help, so that they are not harmed a second time as they were during the last restoration of the church, so that instead of returning to their original splendour, they are not lost forever.

To whom the Vilnius Chapter will entrust the restoration work ... we do not know. But it is certain that we all await this decision with a trembling heart, fearing lest the Antokolė Church should live to see the fate of other Vilnius churches touched by the incompetent hand of the Germans' restorers.